Marijuana Deaths?

Fatal marijuana overdose in humans does not exist. The scarcity of cannabinoid receptors in the medullary nuclei is largely the reason.

Nevertheless, heavy doses can produce unpleasant reactions and, in some rare cases, major doses can result in panic reactions characterized by anxiety, paranoia, self-consciousness, loss of self-control, and disorientation. These reactions subside with a few hours with no medical treatment.

Such panic reactions will most likely to occur in novice users who have tried excessive doses. First-time users should be especially careful. Overdoses are less likely with inhaled marijuana than with oral ingestion, because smokers sense instantly when they have had enough or when the psychoactive content of the drug is too high.

Oral doses are harder to quantify because you can eat several “doses” of brownies and not feel any different until an hour or two later.

About Douglas Slain

Doug received a JD from Stanford Law School, a MA from the University of Chicago, and a BA from DePauw University (Phi Beta Kappa). After practicing real estate and finance law at then Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro, he founded four national monthly law reporting titles now owned by Thomson-Reuters. He served two consecutive terms as chairman of the American Bar Association’s General Practice section’s Professional Responsibility Committee.
Slain was an ABA-appointed rule of law consultant to the Ministry of Economy for the Republic of Latvia as its secured transactions adviser. He taught briefly at Stanford Law School as an adjunct clinical law professor.
Slain has been the managing partner of Private Placement Advisors since August 2009. In January 2013 he founded Outliers Network.